How does Lamentations 5:6 illustrate reliance on foreign nations for sustenance?

Setting the Scene

• Lamentations 5:6: “We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.”

• The book laments the devastation of Jerusalem after Babylon’s conquest (586 BC). Amid famine and ruin, the survivors confess that they had turned to powerful neighbors instead of to the LORD.

• “Submitted” (lit. “stretched out the hand”) pictures voluntary servitude—Judah willingly placed itself under foreign powers to secure daily bread.

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Egypt and Assyria in Judah’s History

• Egypt

– Seen as a regional grain basket (Genesis 42:1–3).

– Judah’s kings repeatedly sought Egyptian aid against threats (Jeremiah 37:5–7; Isaiah 31:1).

• Assyria

– Once the dominant empire that conquered Israel’s northern kingdom (2 Kings 17:6).

– Even after Assyria’s decline, its memory symbolized political might (Hosea 7:11).

• Turning to either nation meant paying tribute, adopting pagan practices, and forfeiting freedom. Lamentations 4:17 echoes the futility: “From our towers we watched for a nation that could not save us”.

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Physical and Spiritual Hunger

• Physical need: siege-induced famine left Judah desperate for “bread” (Lamentations 1:11, 4:10).

• Spiritual need: God had already warned that disobedience would bring hunger and foreign servitude (Deuteronomy 28:48).

• By seeking help elsewhere, Judah showed a deeper hunger—trust displaced from the covenant-keeping God to man-made alliances.

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Consequences of Misplaced Trust

• Loss of liberty—“submitted” signals bondage.

• National shame—Jeremiah 2:36 declares that reliance on Egypt and Assyria would end in disgrace.

• Divine displeasure—Isaiah 31:1 pronounces woe on those who “do not look to the Holy One of Israel.”

• Fulfillment of prophetic judgment—exactly what Moses foretold in Deuteronomy 28 materialized.

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Lessons for Today

• Material crises tempt God’s people to lean on visible powers rather than God’s promises.

• Alliances that ignore God may offer temporary relief but bring long-term bondage.

• Genuine security is found in returning to the LORD, who supplies both physical bread (Matthew 6:31-33) and the “living bread” of life in Christ (John 6:35).